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Ben Waters
| birth_place = Marton, New Zealand | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | weight = | height = | country = New Zealand | sport = Rowing | club = Hamilton Rowing Club | medaltemplates = }} | show-medals = yes | module3 = | ru_provinceyears = 1929 | ru_provincecaps = 2 | ru_provincepoints = (0) }} }} Edward Arthur "Ben" Waters (13 October 1907 – 30 October 1992) was a New Zealand rower who won two medals at the 1930 British Empire Games. He later unsuccessfully stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at several elections. Early life and family Born at Marton on 13 October 1907, Waters was the son of Thomas Edward Waters and Grace Hannah Eliza Waters (née Mainwaring). He married Kathleen Mary Dobson on 12 August 1933, and the couple went on to have five children. Sporting career Rowing A member of the Hamilton Rowing Club, Waters began rowing as a 17-year-old. In 1929 he was a member of the Hamilton four that won the national championship. In March of the following year, he participated in a trial race for selection of the New Zealand team to compete at the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, but was not initially chosen for the 12-man squad. However, he was included in the final squad selected in late June, and competed in both the men's eight and coxed four at the 1930 Empire Games. He won a gold medal in the coxed four, alongside Mick Brough, Jack Macdonald, Bert Sandos, and Arthur Eastwood (cox), and a silver medal in the eights, finishing three-quarters of a boat length behind the victorious English crew. Selected for the New Zealand rowing squad to compete at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Waters was unable to afford to attend. Waters later served as chairman of the Hamilton Rowing Club for almost 25 years. Other sports Waters played two rugby union matches as a forward at a provincial level for in 1929, and was later a Waikato rugby administrator. He also played representative cricket and tennis. Politics Waters was a carpenter and union organiser, and was described as an "incisive critic of National Party policy". During World War II he was serving as a leading aircraftman in the Royal New Zealand Air Force when he stood as the Labour Party candidate for the electorate at the 1943 general election. He finished second, 1881 votes behind the National Party incumbent, Walter Broadfoot. At the 1946 general election, Waters contested the newly created electorate, losing by 5111 votes to Stan Goosman of the National Party. Waters stood for Labour in the electorate at the 1951 election, but was defeated by National's incumbent MP, Hilda Ross, by 2252 votes. In 1954, Waters again stood against Ross in Hamilton, reducing her majority to 1430. Following Ross's death in 1959, Waters contested the resulting by-election, but lost to Lance Adams-Schneider from National by 2988 votes. Later life and death Waters became a builder and building supervisor. He lived in retirement in Hamilton, and was predeceased by his wife, Kathleen, in 1973. Waters himself died on 30 October 1992, and he was buried at Hamilton East Cemetery. References Category:1907 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Marton, New Zealand Category:New Zealand male rowers Category:Rowers at the 1930 British Empire Games Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Category:Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Category:New Zealand rugby union players Category:Waikato Rugby Union players Category:Rugby union forwards Category:New Zealand cricketers Category:New Zealand male tennis players Category:New Zealand military personnel of World War II Category:Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Category:New Zealand trade unionists Category:New Zealand Labour Party politicians Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1946 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1951 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election Category:New Zealand sports executives and administrators Category:Burials at Hamilton East Cemetery